One teacher that i had as a homeroom teacher my sophomore year became a big influence in my life. I never ended up actually having her as a teacher but she was someone I would have out with and have really good conversations with before or after school. I also began my interest in teaching by helping her with lessons that she wasn't sure her students would be interested in. She also became almost like a guide for me. If I was having a lot of trouble in an area or with another student i could go to her for advice. Even as a senior I often visited her law class during my free period to help create a trial. She in many ways was like a mentor to me. I valued her opinion and was very grateful for the extra time she took to grade and review my papers before i handed them in to know what i needed to improve on. As a college student i continued to be in contact with her every so often but made a special point to tell her about my decision to switch into teaching. I know that she was a major influence on my life and made me realize my potential as a teach, even if I didn't know it at the time. What role did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals and abilities?
With a lifelong passion for science, which dates back to my early childhood, I majored in molecular biology and biotechnology. My personal academic milestone happened while taking a required course, biology of cancer taught by Dr. Kumi-Diaka. I became fascinated with Dr. Kumi-Diaka’s breast and prostate cancer research. Cancer has affected my family – my aunt, great aunt, cousins and grandmother died from cancer. I had personal reasons as well as academic reasons for my interest in cancer research.
To strengthen my commitment, during my junior and senior year, I participated in directed independent studies and honors research thesis in the field of cancer research with Dr. Kumi-Diaka. A large part of my activities involved culturing cancer cells, challenging them with various concentrations of Genistein, a natural isoflavone found in soybeans, and B-lapachone, a plant quinone obtained from lapacho tree. I also performed quantitative as well as qualitative assays, such as the Lactate Dehydrogenase Enzyme, and MTT assay. LDH assay quantified the amount of dead cells and MTT quantified the amount of live cells. In order to determine if apoptosis have occurred, I isolated the DNA and performed agarose-gel electrophoresis. However, my attempt was not successful. This is how I Learned that performing research is challenging and that we do not always obtain expected results. I expected to observe DNA laddering, which is typical of apoptosis. More importantly, I discovered what it takes to partake in a research project and the discipline it requires. Therefore, my later educational experiences played a major role were I am now academically. I am now working towards my master in biotechnology and my goal is to work in cancer research.
Who were you most influential teachers and why? Dr. Kerr, organic chemistry professor; Dr. Lowell, molecular cell biology professor, and Dr. Kumi-Diaka, biology of cancer professor, are the college professor who have left a major impression on me. All of them have two things in common, enthusiasm & passion for their subject matter. Through their depth of knowledge, passion and enthusiasm, they made their subject interesting and fun for me. I could see their passion through the way they spoke and discussed the subject matter. Dr. Kerr taught the most dreaded course, organic chemistry but his superior teaching techniques made organic chemistry practical and fun. Dr. Lowell made molecular cell biology come alive. We modeled the different phases of meiosis & mitosis. Dr. Kumi-Diaka has been a positive influence in both my academic as well as my professional career. It is because of him that I fell in love with cancer research. He still finds the time to keep in touch. He is truly dedicated to his current and former students.
Since beginnings are always scary, starting my masters in biotechnology was terrifying until I attended my first class taught by Dr. Zielinski. Dr. Zielinski- my current URI clinical biochemistry professor- is absolutely amazing. She is very passionate. She has so much enthusiasm for the subject matter; it is contagious and inspiring. Because of her I now truly love the Kreb’s cycle, ETC, and carbohydrate metabolism. I cannot believe I would make such a statement years ago. I look forward to her class. I would not say the same thing about a former FAU biochemistry professor. The first day of class, the first thing she told us was that she doesn’t get paid to teach but to do research. Maybe this is one reason I do not even remember her name.
I am definitely very blessed to have had professors that nurtured my passion for science and some even made me love topics I never thought I would be crazy about. What role(s) did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals, and abilities? Who were your most influential teachers and/or coaches? Why?
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this question and I have come up with nothing, well nothing big anyway. I remember once in elementary school, third grade I think, when we were separating into our SRA reading groups and I was one color but my friend was another so we had to be in separate groups. We did everything else together but we could not read together, that made no sense to either one of us. We both liked reading the same books, Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary if I remember correctly, but we had different color levels at school. Now I do not remember much from my childhood but the fact that this memory remains must mean something, perhaps I had already recognized on some level that our similar interests should have grouped us in the same reading group. Skip ahead to seventh grade when my family moved to Westerly and I started going to Babcock Middle, a huge culture shock to say the least. Fortunately, my science teacher had the practice of assigning a buddy to each new student that joined her class. I cannot say that my buddy became a best friend but she showed me around the school, introduced me to different groups of kids, invited me to sit with her at lunch and answered all my stupid questions. Being the new kid is always hard but this teacher had made it her responsibility to make it a little easier and I was truly grateful. I guess I have always carried that with me because I was always drawn to the new kids, always doing my best to ensure they didn't feel like outcasts. Thinking about high school, what I remember most are the teachers that pushed us to succeed, the ones that set expectations and then expected us to exceed them. Those are the teachers I remember by name, the ones I think about when someone asks me why I want to teach. I remember my chemistry teacher pushing me to explain why I got those results or why the results did not match my hypothesis. I remember my European History teacher and the discussions we would have connecting a past event to a current event and then trying to decide what that might mean for the future. I just realized that the teachers I remember most are the ones who thought and taught outside the box, the ones who left the textbook behind sometimes and let the students take the reins. I guess they are all part of the schema that I draw from when I see myself teaching. Description of Academic Experience That Has Influenced My Life:
When considering the countless academic experiences that have occurred in my life, a particularly demanding and recent event comes to mind. I had been working as an adjunct professor at my current place of employment, CCRI, for two semesters. I still had some coursework to complete before receiving my master’s degree, which included to two graduate-level courses in engineering and a little thing we call a thesis. All was well and progress was being made when my boss informed me that he needed to list a posting in order to fill a full-time position for assistant professor, a position I already, imprudently, considered to be my own. The job listing was to be posted in only two months and filled by the start of the next semester. The only problem I faced in applying was that it required a completed master’s degree. This left me with exactly one semester to complete my coursework and thesis, difficult, but not impossible.
I quickly registered for my classes and ran to my advisor. She was apprehensive, but finally conceded to allow me to attempt my graduation plan. This would put my completion date an entire semester ahead of schedule. Luckily, I had already completed my research so it was time, as Professor Fogelman says, to write, write, write. It was also during this time that I attended both my classes and completed the dozens of hours of out-of-class assignments required to succeed. This would have been an incredibly straining time for anyone, but compound this with a fulltime teaching schedule at CCRI, where without research requirements, included four, different classes, all of which require laboratory sessions. One of these classes was a newly offered, physics-based, Introduction to Renewable Energy, which I was developing from scratch.
I had to remind myself that this was not a permanent situation and that I could do this. I have always been motivated and hard working but this really tested that. For someone who is a firm believer in getting their eight hours of sleep every night, I certainly didn’t heed my own advice that semester. I completed my teaching responsibilities, my coursework and finally my thesis was ready for defense. This was the culmination of the most stressful, academic experience I have encountered. I kept calm and continued to remind myself that I did know more about my project than anyone else, even, with the utmost respect, more than my advisor. I completed my defense and after some deliberation I received the great news that I had successfully completed my master’s degree. This experience taught me that I could achieve any level of success academically; how far I wanted to take it was now up to me. Perhaps, if I could achieve my goals in school under such demanding pressures, I could succeed at any reasonable goal I set for myself. I also learned to never give up and to persist, regardless of how arduous the task. These valuable life lessons came none to soon since my job interview was the very next day! This was also a successful and exciting experience.
When I returned to the Kingston campus to take prerequisite courses before applying to the MA/TCP program, I was very nervous because I was so much older than other students and knew that they would all know one another, and I would be an outsider. I had taken the first few prerequisites in Providence, which is a much more inclusive, welcoming environment.
I am a very serious student this time around. I work hard. I spend hours on assignments. I am very dedicated to my career track and education. Most students that I encountered, were not. They were more concerned about the Bon Vue on Thursday nights and rehashing the ridiculous antics from the night before. Not to say that I wasn't exactly the same way, because I was. Ten years ago. I didnt value my education and thought that who was with who where was much more important than the person with the Ph.D trying to prepare me for a career. I also thought I knew it all. So, I understand the perspective of the college junior/senior that thinks their social circle is what makes the world go round. But, I was furious when it impacted my learning. And in a collaborative course like 448- it did.
It was exactly as I expected, only worse, because I had forgotten how stuck up and self centered the 21 year old population can be. I was so uncomfortable in class and hated working with groups. I took EDC 448 with Dr. Coiro, and she really made an effort to make me feel comfortable in the classroom. She took the time to talk through things with me and provided an immense amount of encouragement along the way. One of the ways that she helped the most is that she acknowledged the situation. She recognized that the course was not what it could have been because of the students in the class. She is one of the best professors I have ever had, taught me so much, and has still remained someone that email when I have questions or need a specific resource.
One of the ways that I grew was in my knowledge. Edc 448 confirmed for me that this is what I wanted to do. And that as an educator I try my hardest to ensure that (obnoxious) students do not impact the learning/class environment of others, because those first few days of class, I wanted to drop the course. I had to take a deep breath and give my self a pep talk every day before class. But I made it- and I learned a lot.
I chose to write about an Early School Experience An Experience in High School that Shaped My Life
I had a significant experience in high school that, along with other experiences, would lead me to question the structure of the current educational system and fuel my interest in educational reform. I opted to take a Mechanical Drawing class my senior year. My guidance counselor advised against it because it was a class typically taken by students on the vocational or non-college track. I essentially got the message that the class was not for people like me, i.e. those with enough intelligence, motivation and drive to pursue college. However, I had always struggled with spatial relations and I had always been interested in learning new things and challenging myself. I had a lot of freedom to take electives my senior year and I wanted to explore subjects that were new and interesting to me. Even before I took the class I thought my guidance counselor was being narrow minded in suggesting that it might not be appropriate for me.
Despite being a straight A student in every other class, and the class valedictorian, I really struggled in this class. It was pretty clear from the beginning that I would likely be a B student. It was difficult for me to take 3-dimensional objects and draw them on a 2 dimensional plane. Perhaps if I had really worked hard at it I could have gotten an A but, after all, it was just an elective, so I didn’t. All my other classes came so easily to me that this was the first time I really had to decide whether or not to go that extra mile to get the A. I did enjoy pushing myself a little and I learned something about a new area I had never explored before, but I was fine with a B. The most important thing I learned, however, had to do with educational system itself.
I was in class with a group of students that I rarely saw because we were not on the same “track.” I was astounded at the high level of learning and knowledge that went into this Mechanical Drawing. It was clear to me that these were the types of skills that would be needed by mechanical engineers, architects and other important fields. Why, then, did our school and guidance counselors give us the impression that these classes were for the kids who were not academically adept, not motivated, not engaged? They were clearly engaged in this class, and it was difficult. And they were better at it than me. I got the sense from my peers that they enjoyed seeing the valedictorian struggle with something that came fairly easily to them. I enjoyed learning that as well. It became crystal clear to me that we were using the wrong measures of intelligence and sending the wrong messages to students. It was kind of heart breaking actually, considering the vast majority of these students came from low-income backgrounds. I began to think of other friends of mine, those that were B students but perhaps had another talent such as being incredibly nurturing or kind or a beautiful singer. Why were these talents valued less than being a good writer or being able to memorize parts of the body in biology class? This was perplexing for two reasons. One – it was negatively impacting the self-esteem of a whole group of students unnecessarily. Two - these other skills that the school was clearly labeling as “less than” were, and are, very much needed in our society.
Ever since this experience, combined with some other experiences I had in high school, I have been interested in models of education that enable students to explore areas of interest to them, particularly in real world learning situations and to be have those areas weighted as heavily as traditional subjects. I have also been interested in evaluation systems that take the whole child into account and put value on skills like being a friend and a good team member. High School Influence
I attended 3 different schools in my four years of high school. Although this is far from an ideal situation, I made the best of it and have fond memories of my high school years. One experience that definitely shaped my academic life was my freshman math class. It was a top level class, however, the math that was covered in this class was the same that I had just completed in 8th grade at another school system. The class did not challenge me and I was very bored. A good friend of mine sat in front of me in class. She struggled to understand the material and consistently got D’s.
One day in class, we had the opportunity to team up. My friend was very frustrated and embarrassed at not knowing how to do the assignment. I remember telling her it was just like a puzzle and explaining how to do the math. It took awhile, but she got it! I felt very proud that I was able to teach her the math in a way that she would understand. For the rest of the year, my friend would rely on my help to understand the latest math lessons. This experience has always stayed with me. I loved the feeling of making someone else feel good about learning.
My most influential teacher was my sophomore English teacher. I never liked writing but I thought I was doing fine in her class. I was surprised when this teacher asked me to meet her in the library one day. I had never been asked to meet a teacher outside of class and, it was her lunch time. She explained to me that my writing was not structured properly. She was familiar with the school system that I came from and said that they did not do a good job teaching proper writing techniques. She took the time to explain to me the correct way to write. This was probably the most important half hour of my high school career! I just needed a few pointers to get me going down the right path. From that point on, writing was easier for me and I got to the point where I actually enjoyed it. This teacher successfully identified a student weakness and took steps to correct the problem. Teachers have to be creative, dedicated, and work hard to maximize student capabilities. She exemplified dedication and I am very grateful.
The National Matriculation Test (NMT) being one of the most high-stakes tests in China, which aims at selecting the qualified students who can enter into the university, is a controversial test. ‘It attempts to introduce change in the classroom are often not as effective as their designers hoped they would be’ (Wall, 1996: 334) In China, most of universities merely rely on NMT score to determine whether you can be admitted or not. However, based on many empirical researches and my own miserable experience, it’s regretful to say that NME failed to reach its goal and to bring about the intended changes.
As a loser of the NMT, I want to seek what is an appropriate assessment to judge a person’s scholar and other ability. Professor Luo, my advisor also the lecture of Language Assessment, she has a great impact on me both personal and academic. She often says everyone has his strength and ability so that we cannot judge a person’s ability just using one method or it will be too dogmatically and irresponsible. For example, you are not good at math doesn't mean you are a failure because maybe you have talent in language learning or musical instrument. She has personal charisma. Her elegant behavior, responsible attitude for work and serious research spirit really influence. The process of doing my first empirical research will be the most unforgettable events in my life. I still remember when I have difficulty in finding subjects for my research and want to give up. Professor Luo encouraged me a lot and helped me finding a school that was willing to offer help. After gathering data, I had problems in analyzing data. She instilled that as a responsible researcher we should not cheat the public on the condition that the data was not so perfect. Then she taught me some other statistical methods and applied them to my research.
She is a scholarly mentor, fatherly parent and beneficial friend. In the past year, under her guidance, I become more mature. Back to Personal Profile - YizheH
What role(s) did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals, and abilities? Who were your most influential teachers and/or coaches? Why?
The experience of working with students from Old Dominion University (ODU) at the end of my first graduate year plays a crucial role in my academic life. It was not only a part-time job but also a required course for me. My advisor was the person in charge. Her job was to make a plan for the whole program and communicate with professors form ODU. She involved me into the program in hope of that I could put what I have learned into practice. My job was to offer these students a general understanding of Chinese. Most of them never learned Chinese before they came to China. I was deeply grateful because what I have learned in these five days was more than that in the past one year.
Language learners are person first, students second. Before the first class, my advisor wanted to have a look at my lesson plans before class. I prepared lesson plans very carefully so I thought there would not be big problems about them. However, I still spent nearly five hours in my advisor’s office in improving them. She suggested me change part of language drills into authentic communication because nobody liked to practice a word five times, not knowing how to use it and the content of it. She also advised me to teach how to say “where is the bathroom?” in the first class. I adopted her suggestion. From my experience of life, I know in real cases “Where is the bathroom” was more useful than “Nice to meet you”. What’s more, we prepared some potable note books for them. On the first page of it wrote their English names and Chinese names and second page the address of their apartment in English and Pinyin (Chinese pronunciation), in case of that they got lost or take a taxi. I complained we were more baby sisters than teachers and we took too many responsibilities. My advisor said “Not at all! You are doing something good to yourself, young teacher! On the one hand, all of these are what a good language teacher is supposed to do. On the other hand, If you treat your students as person first, they will response in a human way. If you treat them as learning machines, they will torture your mind by making you feel your job is boring and meaningless.”
When I look back, all of these teachers whom I thought had profound influences on me share a common character. They treated me people first, a student second. They tolerated the mistakes that I made during the process of learning because nobody is flawless in the world; they were proud of what I achieved because they know I am not superman and I managed it with my efforts. Now I will be a teacher soon and it is time for me to put what I have learned from my teachers into practice.
I am a strong believer in student-centered teaching philosophy and have interests in learning how to tailor my teaching plans according to the needs of students. I read books about the needs of learners, the motivation of learning, learning styles and so on to know more about my future students rather than to be a linguistic. I always bear it in mind that only I make them believe what they will learn in my class will help them live a better life will they be well prepared to take in the knowledge.
One of the most impactful experiences I've had was both personal and academic. During Spring semester of my junior year in college, my best friend, Janice, came to visit me in Connecticut. On her way home to Rhode Island, she got in a car accident, flipped her car, and broke her neck. She was hospitalized at Yale New Haven Hospital for the month of April, during which time I spent every day at the hospital with her. From there she was transferred to Spaulding in Boston for three additional months. While she was there, I was only able to visit about once a week, but sent her cards in the mail every single day. Though it's been 14 months since her accident, the emotional toll that it had on me was significant, not to mention the toll it's had on her and her family. She is paralyzed from the chest down and does not have triceps function or function in her hands. Clearly this was a very personal experience for me to go through. However, it also had a great impact on me academically. Because her accident was April 1st, there still was six weeks left in the semester. I was enrolled in two education courses, two math courses, and a logic course. To say that school was not in my top priorities during this time would be an understatement. It was the furthest thing from my mind! I got in touch with all my professors to let them know the situation and requested incomplete's in all of my classes so that I could focus all my attention on Janice. My professors were very understanding and readily accepted my request to finish the remaining work during the summer.
Unfortunately, this experience was more taxing on me than I had expected. I had no problem completing the work for my education courses or the logic course. The two math courses were a different story though. Every time I would sit down to try to work on them, all I could do was cry, probably because I was just so emotionally drained that I didn't know what else to do but cry. I tried every week to plug away at them, but trying to teach myself Calculus IV and Abstract Algebra was much more difficult than I anticipated. My Abstract Algebra professor had foreseen this happening and suggested getting a medical withdraw from the course so I wouldn't be penalized for it, but would have to retake it. My Calculus professor was willing to work with me so I didn't have to retake the course. He requested from the registrar that my incomplete be extended beyond the typical six weeks and into the next Spring semester so I could sit in when the class was offered again and just continue where I left off. While both of these accommodations were extremely generous, it did not make my work load any easier. Because Calculus IV was only offered in the Spring and Calculus V was offered in the Fall, I had to take Calculus V before I had finished Calculus IV. The more difficult aspect of this, however, was the Spring semester of my senior year. The reason for this was because Abstract Algebra and Calculus IV were only offered in the Spring, so I had to take both of those classes along with the Math Senior Seminar, Statistics and Probability II, and another University required course. This was a near impossible course load because Calculus IV and Abstract Algebra are considered to be the two most difficult math courses, and no other student who was a math major took more than two of these courses a semester. However, I had no other choice if I wanted to graduate on time. I also could not continue in the MAT program that I started my junior year because I didn't have room in my schedule for the education courses anymore.
Despite all that happened, I was determined to graduate with my class, so I put in the time and effort and did what I needed to do. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA in Mathematics and am extremely proud of myself for that because 7 months after Janice's accident, my other best friend died of an overdose. Needless to say, I didn't have the easiest couple of years, but what I really took away from all that happened was that teachers are human. They aren't scary, miserable people that want to see their students fail. Teachers want their students to succeed, and the best teachers take the time to make sure that they do. I am so grateful to my professors for making accommodations for me when I needed them. I had always felt that asking for help was considered a weakness and a crutch, but with Janice's accident and Neil's death, I didn't know what else to do other than ask for help. It was the best thing for me, and it taught me something that I don't think I would have learned otherwise. In High School I had a few issues here and there when I needed to ask for an extension during my parents divorce or when I had difficult days, but that was nothing compared to what my professors did for me. These experiences not only changed who I am as a person, but they also changed who I will be as a teacher. I now know how important it is for a teacher to understand that when traumatic experiences happen, sometimes you have to given students a break. Knowing that my professors were on my side and rooting for me was a major factor in why I succeeded. As a teacher, I will always try to be my students' biggest cheerleader. I want them to know that I care about them as individuals and will be willing to help them in any way that I can. I will be sure to establish a sense of trust and respect so that they will feel safe coming to me for help if they need it. I spent too many days in classes afraid of my teacher and what s/he would think of me if I needed an extension or extra help. I don't want any of my students to ever feel that way in one of my classes. Life hands out difficult lessons to learn, and while this was by far the hardest thing I've had to go through, it was not a wasted experience. I learned so much from it, and I'm determined to become a better person from it.
What role did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals and abilities?
With a lifelong passion for science, which dates back to my early childhood, I majored in molecular biology and biotechnology. My personal academic milestone happened while taking a required course, biology of cancer taught by Dr. Kumi-Diaka. I became fascinated with Dr. Kumi-Diaka’s breast and prostate cancer research. Cancer has affected my family – my aunt, great aunt, cousins and grandmother died from cancer. I had personal reasons as well as academic reasons for my interest in cancer research.
To strengthen my commitment, during my junior and senior year, I participated in directed independent studies and honors research thesis in the field of cancer research with Dr. Kumi-Diaka. A large part of my activities involved culturing cancer cells, challenging them with various concentrations of Genistein, a natural isoflavone found in soybeans, and B-lapachone, a plant quinone obtained from lapacho tree. I also performed quantitative as well as qualitative assays, such as the Lactate Dehydrogenase Enzyme, and MTT assay. LDH assay quantified the amount of dead cells and MTT quantified the amount of live cells. In order to determine if apoptosis have occurred, I isolated the DNA and performed agarose-gel electrophoresis. However, my attempt was not successful. This is how I Learned that performing research is challenging and that we do not always obtain expected results. I expected to observe DNA laddering, which is typical of apoptosis. More importantly, I discovered what it takes to partake in a research project and the discipline it requires.
Therefore, my later educational experiences played a major role were I am now academically. I am now working towards my master in biotechnology and my goal is to work in cancer research.
Who were you most influential teachers and why?
Dr. Kerr, organic chemistry professor; Dr. Lowell, molecular cell biology professor, and Dr. Kumi-Diaka, biology of cancer professor, are the college professor who have left a major impression on me. All of them have two things in common, enthusiasm & passion for their subject matter. Through their depth of knowledge, passion and enthusiasm, they made their subject interesting and fun for me. I could see their passion through the way they spoke and discussed the subject matter. Dr. Kerr taught the most dreaded course, organic chemistry but his superior teaching techniques made organic chemistry practical and fun. Dr. Lowell made molecular cell biology come alive. We modeled the different phases of meiosis & mitosis. Dr. Kumi-Diaka has been a positive influence in both my academic as well as my professional career. It is because of him that I fell in love with cancer research. He still finds the time to keep in touch. He is truly dedicated to his current and former students.
Since beginnings are always scary, starting my masters in biotechnology was terrifying until I attended my first class taught by Dr. Zielinski. Dr. Zielinski- my current URI clinical biochemistry professor- is absolutely amazing. She is very passionate. She has so much enthusiasm for the subject matter; it is contagious and inspiring. Because of her I now truly love the Kreb’s cycle, ETC, and carbohydrate metabolism. I cannot believe I would make such a statement years ago. I look forward to her class. I would not say the same thing about a former FAU biochemistry professor. The first day of class, the first thing she told us was that she doesn’t get paid to teach but to do research. Maybe this is one reason I do not even remember her name.
I am definitely very blessed to have had professors that nurtured my passion for science and some even made me love topics I never thought I would be crazy about.
What role(s) did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals, and abilities? Who were your most influential teachers and/or coaches? Why?
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this question and I have come up with nothing, well nothing big anyway. I remember once in elementary school, third grade I think, when we were separating into our SRA reading groups and I was one color but my friend was another so we had to be in separate groups. We did everything else together but we could not read together, that made no sense to either one of us. We both liked reading the same books, Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary if I remember correctly, but we had different color levels at school. Now I do not remember much from my childhood but the fact that this memory remains must mean something, perhaps I had already recognized on some level that our similar interests should have grouped us in the same reading group. Skip ahead to seventh grade when my family moved to Westerly and I started going to Babcock Middle, a huge culture shock to say the least. Fortunately, my science teacher had the practice of assigning a buddy to each new student that joined her class. I cannot say that my buddy became a best friend but she showed me around the school, introduced me to different groups of kids, invited me to sit with her at lunch and answered all my stupid questions. Being the new kid is always hard but this teacher had made it her responsibility to make it a little easier and I was truly grateful. I guess I have always carried that with me because I was always drawn to the new kids, always doing my best to ensure they didn't feel like outcasts. Thinking about high school, what I remember most are the teachers that pushed us to succeed, the ones that set expectations and then expected us to exceed them. Those are the teachers I remember by name, the ones I think about when someone asks me why I want to teach. I remember my chemistry teacher pushing me to explain why I got those results or why the results did not match my hypothesis. I remember my European History teacher and the discussions we would have connecting a past event to a current event and then trying to decide what that might mean for the future. I just realized that the teachers I remember most are the ones who thought and taught outside the box, the ones who left the textbook behind sometimes and let the students take the reins. I guess they are all part of the schema that I draw from when I see myself teaching.
Description of Academic Experience That Has Influenced My Life:
When considering the countless academic experiences that have occurred in my life, a particularly demanding and recent event comes to mind. I had been working as an adjunct professor at my current place of employment, CCRI, for two semesters. I still had some coursework to complete before receiving my master’s degree, which included to two graduate-level courses in engineering and a little thing we call a thesis. All was well and progress was being made when my boss informed me that he needed to list a posting in order to fill a full-time position for assistant professor, a position I already, imprudently, considered to be my own. The job listing was to be posted in only two months and filled by the start of the next semester. The only problem I faced in applying was that it required a completed master’s degree. This left me with exactly one semester to complete my coursework and thesis, difficult, but not impossible.
I quickly registered for my classes and ran to my advisor. She was apprehensive, but finally conceded to allow me to attempt my graduation plan. This would put my completion date an entire semester ahead of schedule. Luckily, I had already completed my research so it was time, as Professor Fogelman says, to write, write, write. It was also during this time that I attended both my classes and completed the dozens of hours of out-of-class assignments required to succeed. This would have been an incredibly straining time for anyone, but compound this with a fulltime teaching schedule at CCRI, where without research requirements, included four, different classes, all of which require laboratory sessions. One of these classes was a newly offered, physics-based, Introduction to Renewable Energy, which I was developing from scratch.
I had to remind myself that this was not a permanent situation and that I could do this. I have always been motivated and hard working but this really tested that. For someone who is a firm believer in getting their eight hours of sleep every night, I certainly didn’t heed my own advice that semester. I completed my teaching responsibilities, my coursework and finally my thesis was ready for defense. This was the culmination of the most stressful, academic experience I have encountered. I kept calm and continued to remind myself that I did know more about my project than anyone else, even, with the utmost respect, more than my advisor. I completed my defense and after some deliberation I received the great news that I had successfully completed my master’s degree.
This experience taught me that I could achieve any level of success academically; how far I wanted to take it was now up to me. Perhaps, if I could achieve my goals in school under such demanding pressures, I could succeed at any reasonable goal I set for myself. I also learned to never give up and to persist, regardless of how arduous the task. These valuable life lessons came none to soon since my job interview was the very next day! This was also a successful and exciting experience.
When I returned to the Kingston campus to take prerequisite courses before applying to the MA/TCP program, I was very nervous because I was so much older than other students and knew that they would all know one another, and I would be an outsider. I had taken the first few prerequisites in Providence, which is a much more inclusive, welcoming environment.
I am a very serious student this time around. I work hard. I spend hours on assignments. I am very dedicated to my career track and education. Most students that I encountered, were not. They were more concerned about the Bon Vue on Thursday nights and rehashing the ridiculous antics from the night before. Not to say that I wasn't exactly the same way, because I was. Ten years ago. I didnt value my education and thought that who was with who where was much more important than the person with the Ph.D trying to prepare me for a career. I also thought I knew it all. So, I understand the perspective of the college junior/senior that thinks their social circle is what makes the world go round. But, I was furious when it impacted my learning. And in a collaborative course like 448- it did.
It was exactly as I expected, only worse, because I had forgotten how stuck up and self centered the 21 year old population can be. I was so uncomfortable in class and hated working with groups. I took EDC 448 with Dr. Coiro, and she really made an effort to make me feel comfortable in the classroom. She took the time to talk through things with me and provided an immense amount of encouragement along the way. One of the ways that she helped the most is that she acknowledged the situation. She recognized that the course was not what it could have been because of the students in the class. She is one of the best professors I have ever had, taught me so much, and has still remained someone that email when I have questions or need a specific resource.
One of the ways that I grew was in my knowledge. Edc 448 confirmed for me that this is what I wanted to do. And that as an educator I try my hardest to ensure that (obnoxious) students do not impact the learning/class environment of others, because those first few days of class, I wanted to drop the course. I had to take a deep breath and give my self a pep talk every day before class. But I made it- and I learned a lot.
I chose to write about an Early School Experience
An Experience in High School that Shaped My Life
I had a significant experience in high school that, along with other experiences, would lead me to question the structure of the current educational system and fuel my interest in educational reform. I opted to take a Mechanical Drawing class my senior year. My guidance counselor advised against it because it was a class typically taken by students on the vocational or non-college track. I essentially got the message that the class was not for people like me, i.e. those with enough intelligence, motivation and drive to pursue college. However, I had always struggled with spatial relations and I had always been interested in learning new things and challenging myself. I had a lot of freedom to take electives my senior year and I wanted to explore subjects that were new and interesting to me. Even before I took the class I thought my guidance counselor was being narrow minded in suggesting that it might not be appropriate for me.
Despite being a straight A student in every other class, and the class valedictorian, I really struggled in this class. It was pretty clear from the beginning that I would likely be a B student. It was difficult for me to take 3-dimensional objects and draw them on a 2 dimensional plane. Perhaps if I had really worked hard at it I could have gotten an A but, after all, it was just an elective, so I didn’t. All my other classes came so easily to me that this was the first time I really had to decide whether or not to go that extra mile to get the A. I did enjoy pushing myself a little and I learned something about a new area I had never explored before, but I was fine with a B. The most important thing I learned, however, had to do with educational system itself.
I was in class with a group of students that I rarely saw because we were not on the same “track.” I was astounded at the high level of learning and knowledge that went into this Mechanical Drawing. It was clear to me that these were the types of skills that would be needed by mechanical engineers, architects and other important fields. Why, then, did our school and guidance counselors give us the impression that these classes were for the kids who were not academically adept, not motivated, not engaged? They were clearly engaged in this class, and it was difficult. And they were better at it than me. I got the sense from my peers that they enjoyed seeing the valedictorian struggle with something that came fairly easily to them. I enjoyed learning that as well. It became crystal clear to me that we were using the wrong measures of intelligence and sending the wrong messages to students. It was kind of heart breaking actually, considering the vast majority of these students came from low-income backgrounds. I began to think of other friends of mine, those that were B students but perhaps had another talent such as being incredibly nurturing or kind or a beautiful singer. Why were these talents valued less than being a good writer or being able to memorize parts of the body in biology class? This was perplexing for two reasons. One – it was negatively impacting the self-esteem of a whole group of students unnecessarily. Two - these other skills that the school was clearly labeling as “less than” were, and are, very much needed in our society.
Ever since this experience, combined with some other experiences I had in high school, I have been interested in models of education that enable students to explore areas of interest to them, particularly in real world learning situations and to be have those areas weighted as heavily as traditional subjects. I have also been interested in evaluation systems that take the whole child into account and put value on skills like being a friend and a good team member.
High School Influence
I attended 3 different schools in my four years of high school. Although this is far from an ideal situation, I made the best of it and have fond memories of my high school years. One experience that definitely shaped my academic life was my freshman math class. It was a top level class, however, the math that was covered in this class was the same that I had just completed in 8th grade at another school system. The class did not challenge me and I was very bored. A good friend of mine sat in front of me in class. She struggled to understand the material and consistently got D’s.
One day in class, we had the opportunity to team up. My friend was very frustrated and embarrassed at not knowing how to do the assignment. I remember telling her it was just like a puzzle and explaining how to do the math. It took awhile, but she got it! I felt very proud that I was able to teach her the math in a way that she would understand. For the rest of the year, my friend would rely on my help to understand the latest math lessons. This experience has always stayed with me. I loved the feeling of making someone else feel good about learning.
My most influential teacher was my sophomore English teacher. I never liked writing but I thought I was doing fine in her class. I was surprised when this teacher asked me to meet her in the library one day. I had never been asked to meet a teacher outside of class and, it was her lunch time. She explained to me that my writing was not structured properly. She was familiar with the school system that I came from and said that they did not do a good job teaching proper writing techniques. She took the time to explain to me the correct way to write. This was probably the most important half hour of my high school career! I just needed a few pointers to get me going down the right path. From that point on, writing was easier for me and I got to the point where I actually enjoyed it. This teacher successfully identified a student weakness and took steps to correct the problem. Teachers have to be creative, dedicated, and work hard to maximize student capabilities. She exemplified dedication and I am very grateful.
The National Matriculation Test (NMT) being one of the most high-stakes tests in China, which aims at selecting the qualified students who can enter into the university, is a controversial test. ‘It attempts to introduce change in the classroom are often not as effective as their designers hoped they would be’ (Wall, 1996: 334) In China, most of universities merely rely on NMT score to determine whether you can be admitted or not. However, based on many empirical researches and my own miserable experience, it’s regretful to say that NME failed to reach its goal and to bring about the intended changes.
As a loser of the NMT, I want to seek what is an appropriate assessment to judge a person’s scholar and other ability. Professor Luo, my advisor also the lecture of Language Assessment, she has a great impact on me both personal and academic. She often says everyone has his strength and ability so that we cannot judge a person’s ability just using one method or it will be too dogmatically and irresponsible. For example, you are not good at math doesn't mean you are a failure because maybe you have talent in language learning or musical instrument. She has personal charisma. Her elegant behavior, responsible attitude for work and serious research spirit really influence. The process of doing my first empirical research will be the most unforgettable events in my life. I still remember when I have difficulty in finding subjects for my research and want to give up. Professor Luo encouraged me a lot and helped me finding a school that was willing to offer help. After gathering data, I had problems in analyzing data. She instilled that as a responsible researcher we should not cheat the public on the condition that the data was not so perfect. Then she taught me some other statistical methods and applied them to my research.
She is a scholarly mentor, fatherly parent and beneficial friend. In the past year, under her guidance, I become more mature.
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What role(s) did your later educational experiences play in where you are now academically? What curricular and extracurricular experiences shaped your outlook, goals, and abilities? Who were your most influential teachers and/or coaches? Why?
The experience of working with students from Old Dominion University (ODU) at the end of my first graduate year plays a crucial role in my academic life. It was not only a part-time job but also a required course for me. My advisor was the person in charge. Her job was to make a plan for the whole program and communicate with professors form ODU. She involved me into the program in hope of that I could put what I have learned into practice. My job was to offer these students a general understanding of Chinese. Most of them never learned Chinese before they came to China. I was deeply grateful because what I have learned in these five days was more than that in the past one year.
Language learners are person first, students second. Before the first class, my advisor wanted to have a look at my lesson plans before class. I prepared lesson plans very carefully so I thought there would not be big problems about them. However, I still spent nearly five hours in my advisor’s office in improving them. She suggested me change part of language drills into authentic communication because nobody liked to practice a word five times, not knowing how to use it and the content of it. She also advised me to teach how to say “where is the bathroom?” in the first class. I adopted her suggestion. From my experience of life, I know in real cases “Where is the bathroom” was more useful than “Nice to meet you”. What’s more, we prepared some potable note books for them. On the first page of it wrote their English names and Chinese names and second page the address of their apartment in English and Pinyin (Chinese pronunciation), in case of that they got lost or take a taxi. I complained we were more baby sisters than teachers and we took too many responsibilities. My advisor said “Not at all! You are doing something good to yourself, young teacher! On the one hand, all of these are what a good language teacher is supposed to do. On the other hand, If you treat your students as person first, they will response in a human way. If you treat them as learning machines, they will torture your mind by making you feel your job is boring and meaningless.”
When I look back, all of these teachers whom I thought had profound influences on me share a common character. They treated me people first, a student second. They tolerated the mistakes that I made during the process of learning because nobody is flawless in the world; they were proud of what I achieved because they know I am not superman and I managed it with my efforts. Now I will be a teacher soon and it is time for me to put what I have learned from my teachers into practice.
I am a strong believer in student-centered teaching philosophy and have interests in learning how to tailor my teaching plans according to the needs of students. I read books about the needs of learners, the motivation of learning, learning styles and so on to know more about my future students rather than to be a linguistic. I always bear it in mind that only I make them believe what they will learn in my class will help them live a better life will they be well prepared to take in the knowledge.
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College Influence
One of the most impactful experiences I've had was both personal and academic. During Spring semester of my junior year in college, my best friend, Janice, came to visit me in Connecticut. On her way home to Rhode Island, she got in a car accident, flipped her car, and broke her neck. She was hospitalized at Yale New Haven Hospital for the month of April, during which time I spent every day at the hospital with her. From there she was transferred to Spaulding in Boston for three additional months. While she was there, I was only able to visit about once a week, but sent her cards in the mail every single day. Though it's been 14 months since her accident, the emotional toll that it had on me was significant, not to mention the toll it's had on her and her family. She is paralyzed from the chest down and does not have triceps function or function in her hands. Clearly this was a very personal experience for me to go through. However, it also had a great impact on me academically. Because her accident was April 1st, there still was six weeks left in the semester. I was enrolled in two education courses, two math courses, and a logic course. To say that school was not in my top priorities during this time would be an understatement. It was the furthest thing from my mind! I got in touch with all my professors to let them know the situation and requested incomplete's in all of my classes so that I could focus all my attention on Janice. My professors were very understanding and readily accepted my request to finish the remaining work during the summer.
Unfortunately, this experience was more taxing on me than I had expected. I had no problem completing the work for my education courses or the logic course. The two math courses were a different story though. Every time I would sit down to try to work on them, all I could do was cry, probably because I was just so emotionally drained that I didn't know what else to do but cry. I tried every week to plug away at them, but trying to teach myself Calculus IV and Abstract Algebra was much more difficult than I anticipated. My Abstract Algebra professor had foreseen this happening and suggested getting a medical withdraw from the course so I wouldn't be penalized for it, but would have to retake it. My Calculus professor was willing to work with me so I didn't have to retake the course. He requested from the registrar that my incomplete be extended beyond the typical six weeks and into the next Spring semester so I could sit in when the class was offered again and just continue where I left off. While both of these accommodations were extremely generous, it did not make my work load any easier. Because Calculus IV was only offered in the Spring and Calculus V was offered in the Fall, I had to take Calculus V before I had finished Calculus IV. The more difficult aspect of this, however, was the Spring semester of my senior year. The reason for this was because Abstract Algebra and Calculus IV were only offered in the Spring, so I had to take both of those classes along with the Math Senior Seminar, Statistics and Probability II, and another University required course. This was a near impossible course load because Calculus IV and Abstract Algebra are considered to be the two most difficult math courses, and no other student who was a math major took more than two of these courses a semester. However, I had no other choice if I wanted to graduate on time. I also could not continue in the MAT program that I started my junior year because I didn't have room in my schedule for the education courses anymore.
Despite all that happened, I was determined to graduate with my class, so I put in the time and effort and did what I needed to do. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA in Mathematics and am extremely proud of myself for that because 7 months after Janice's accident, my other best friend died of an overdose. Needless to say, I didn't have the easiest couple of years, but what I really took away from all that happened was that teachers are human. They aren't scary, miserable people that want to see their students fail. Teachers want their students to succeed, and the best teachers take the time to make sure that they do. I am so grateful to my professors for making accommodations for me when I needed them. I had always felt that asking for help was considered a weakness and a crutch, but with Janice's accident and Neil's death, I didn't know what else to do other than ask for help. It was the best thing for me, and it taught me something that I don't think I would have learned otherwise. In High School I had a few issues here and there when I needed to ask for an extension during my parents divorce or when I had difficult days, but that was nothing compared to what my professors did for me. These experiences not only changed who I am as a person, but they also changed who I will be as a teacher. I now know how important it is for a teacher to understand that when traumatic experiences happen, sometimes you have to given students a break. Knowing that my professors were on my side and rooting for me was a major factor in why I succeeded. As a teacher, I will always try to be my students' biggest cheerleader. I want them to know that I care about them as individuals and will be willing to help them in any way that I can. I will be sure to establish a sense of trust and respect so that they will feel safe coming to me for help if they need it. I spent too many days in classes afraid of my teacher and what s/he would think of me if I needed an extension or extra help. I don't want any of my students to ever feel that way in one of my classes. Life hands out difficult lessons to learn, and while this was by far the hardest thing I've had to go through, it was not a wasted experience. I learned so much from it, and I'm determined to become a better person from it.
Katrina's Personal Profile
Please see early school experience